Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not intended to be taken literally.
Example: I waited for an eternity.

Alliteration

When two or more words in a phrase start with the same letter (or sound).
Example: Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Rhythm & Rhyme

Rhythm is a recurrence which gives a distinct beat to a line. Rhyme is a matching of sounds.
Example: One, two, Buckle my shoe.

Metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things
Example: Life is a roller coaster.

Analogy

A similarity between the like features of two things
Example: The comparison heart and a pump

Repetition

Saying the same thing again and again throughout a poem.
Example: I am nobody who are you? Are you nobody to?

Personification

Giving something non-human human qualities
Example: The wind howled.

Allusion

A reference to a real person, event, place, or work of art.
Example: Nicolas Flamel in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Euphemism

Hinting at something or making something offensive sound better.
Example: He kicked the bucket.

Imagery

Language that invokes one or more of the five senses.
Example: Her eyelashes brushed against my cheek as soft as baby's breath.

Irony

Words that convey the opposite of their literal meaning, or a situation where the meaning of something is contradicted by its appearance. There are three kinds if irony verbal, dramatic and irony of situation.
Example: A person goes to court for a speeding ticket and on the way gets a speeding ticket.

Malapropism

Misusing or confusing words ridiculously especially words that are similar in sound.
Example:Weapons of mass production.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents
Example: Plop, splash, crash, squeak.

Oxymoron

Putting two contradictory words together
Example:Act naturally

Satire

To make fun of human weakness.
Example:


Simile

A comparison of two unlike things using like or as.
Example: The floor was as cold as ice.

Symbol

An action or object that represents more than it's literal meaning
Example: The sidewalk in Where the Sidewalk ends.

Theme

The general idea
Example: The theme of Romeo and Juliet might be the forcefulness of love.